The Release List 08.25.09: Dissidia, Mana Khemia 2, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Cursed Mountain, and Harvest Moon: Magical Melody Posted by Tommy Coloma on 08.25.2009
Square-Enix fulfills everyone's fantasy with Dissidia, NISA gives RPG fans yet another reason to dust off their PS2s in Mana Khemia 2, Nintendo lets us take part in another Professor Layton adventure, and Deep Silver tries to show us how survival horror is done on the Wii with Cursed Mountain.
This week we got a lot of high profile games for every system out there. Obviously, Dissidia, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box will be the biggest draws. There's also Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, an import that puts Soul Calibur IV with balance tweaks and two new characters (Kratos from God of War and a new character called Dampierre replace Yoda and Darth Vader) in the palm of your hand. On the DS front, Marker Man Adventures might be worth a look if you're into platformers that allow you to draw your own platforms. Isn't it odd how all these companies are releasing the good stuff right when school starts for a lot of their customers? Brilliant!
This week's highlightsNote: Release dates are subject to change
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
According to an interview with Dissidia director Takeshi Arakawa and producer Yoshinori Kitase (conducted by Final Fantasy Union), this version of Dissidia differs from the Japanese one that was released last year in several ways. Here are a few of the changes:
- New arcade mode that allows you to play a string of opponents and gain points for defeating them
- Smarter AI
- Balance tweaks
- Additional events
- Shorter tutorial mode that now takes ten minutes to complete instead of an hour
- New moves and abilities for many of the characters
- Extra cutscenes which feature cameos from characters that were not present in the Japanese version
One of the features that I'm sure that we can all appreciate is the ability to play others online. Unfortunately, extra hardware is necessary to make that option work. The easiest way to get online requires the use of a PS3 and Ad-Hoc Party. I'm willing to bet that most people will be using this option, so it's probably the way to go if you want more competition. You can find a tutorial on how to get Ad-Hoc Party to work over at PSO World. The other way requires you to use your computer along with XLink Kai.
Here is your roster:
Bartz Klauser (Final Fantasy V)
Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV)
Cloud of Darkness (Final Fantasy III)
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
Emperor (Final Fantasy II)
Exdeath (Final Fantasy V)
Firion (Final Fantasy II)
Garland (Final Fantasy)
Golbez (Final Fantasy IV)
Jecht (Final Fantasy X)
Kefka Palazzo (Final Fantasy VI)
Kuja (Final Fantasy IX)
Onion Knight (Final Fantasy III)
Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
Shantotto (Final Fantasy XI)
Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
Terra Branford (Final Fantasy VI)
Tidus Final (Fantasy X)
Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII)
Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy)
Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)
the "epic battle" trailer
Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy (PS2) Mana Khemia 2's developer, Gust, has a knack for creating item-crafting-heavy games that are actually fun to play. As it has been pumping out Atelier Iris games continually since 1997, the company has had a lot of time to refine its games' combat and synthesis systems. The first Mana Khemia, often considered the spiritual successor to the Atelier Iris series, can be seen as the culmination of all that Gust has learned over the years, at least when it comes to gameplay. As far as the story goes, MK left a lot to be desired. In fact, the story was fairly non-existent. MK2 fixes that by not only providing a more fleshed out story, but by also allowing gamers to play through two separate scenarios with different main and secondary characters. The superior story, along with improvements to the already solid combat and synthesis systems, should make Mana Khemia 2 a must buy for Gust fans as well as those who are still in the market for the latest and greatest RPG on the PS2.
the trailer
Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)
This package is worth picking up just for the ability to play Metroid Prime in widescreen with Corruption's control scheme. Four-player deathmatch is also a plus, even if it can only be played offline. Here are some of the improvements that you can expect from this compilation -
- Widescreen mode for MP1 and MP2
- MP3 controls in MP1 and MP2
- Difficulty tweaks throughout all three games
- Achievements for MP1 and MP2
- Bloom lighting in MP1!
- Graphical enhancements in all three games
the "debut" trailer
Cursed Mountain (Wii) Cursed Mountain is a survival horror game in which you play as Eric Simmons, a man who must make his way to the top of a mountain in the Himalayas in order to find his lost brother. Unfortunately, the mountain happens to be populated by the angry souls of those who have died there over the past few centuries.
I really like the concept, especially the "go up the mountain and encounter demonic souls" part. However, Cursed Mountain's controls are IR and motion sensor heavy, so a close look at how things work is needed before giving it a recommendation. My suggestion is to do a search on either Metacritic or Gamerankings and see what others say about the controls.
What we've got here is pretty much a remake of Magical Melody for the GameCube. You can expect updated controls as well as improved graphics, but sadly, you lose the ability to play as a female character, something that seems to be a big deal amongst Harvest Moon fans. If that is a problem for you, it might be best to either pick up the original GameCube version (it's currently $20 new on Amazon) or wait for Harvest Moon: Animal Paradise to drop in October.
gameplay footage from the PAL version
The other US releases Batman: Arkham Asylum (360, PS3)
Emergency Room: Real Life Rescues (DS)
Fallout 3: Broken Steel and Point Lookout (360, PC)
Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (DS)
Imagine Teacher: Class Trip (DS)
Marker Man Adventures (DS)
Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger (PC)
Princess Lillifee's Magic Fairy (DS)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)
Raven Squad: Hidden Dagger (360, PC, PS3)
Reel Fishing: Angler's Dream (Wii)
Sudoku Ball: Detective (DS)
The Clique: Diss and Make Up (DS)
The Sims 2: University Life Collection (PC)
Time of Shadows (PC)
Warriors Orochi 2 (PSP)
Wizards of Waverly Place (DS)
The Import SceneJapanese localizations of domestic games, "Asia" versions of games that do not have English options, and "Best" (greatest hits) versions of already released games are ignored.
Dream C Club (360)
Like Life Every Hour (PSP)
Memories Off 6 (360)
Nanashi no Game Me (DS)
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)
SupaRobo Gakuen (DS)
Tamaran (Wii)
Tenchu San Portable (PSP)
